custom bookbinding - handcrafted - blank book - journal - wedding - bound email - guest book - scrapbook - photo album - diary - anniversary - clamshell box - book of shadows - fan fiction - rebinding

 

 

fineblankbooks.com

Tedra Ashley-Wannemuehler, bookbinder



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More information on the books pictured above can be found in the following galleries (clockwise from left):

Impala and motel sign (daytime) - gallery - intricate

Album with crab - gallery - intricate

Impala with motel (nighttime) - gallery - pop culture

Chevy Cheyenne - gallery - baby

3/4 binding sunflower with copper accent  - gallery - engagement

 

your idea + my craftsmanship = a one-of-a-kind heirloom

 

gallery - anniversary

 

An anniversary journal for a couple featuring a raised version of the first license plate they were issued in 1974. This was their "sapphire" anniversary, hence the reason for the vibrant blue leather of the cover. The small lettering on this cover was too tiny to cut by hand from tag board, so this was one of the rare instances where I had that lettering laser-cut for me since it hadt o be an exact size and an exact font, but the rest of the cover is hand-cut and the book is made in the same proportions as a real license plate.

 

anniversary license plate large

 

 

license plate anniversary journal

   

- 100 pages (200 page sides to write on) white archival mohawk superfine text, smooth finish white

- bright blue solid-color endpapers

- ribbon page marker

- cover is electric blue goatskin leather over hand-cut binder's board, matte board, and tag board

 

 - approximately $350

 

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anniversary license plate front sm

 

anniversary license plate whole cover sm

 

anniversary license plate endpapers sm

 

anniversary license plate open sm

 

 

 

 

This anniversary journal is one that the couple will write in every year on their anniversary.  They wanted to incorporate the monogram and cowboy boots used on their wedding invitations.  The monogram was carved from the underlying cover board.  The cowboy boots were added using a custom metal die and copper stamping foil.  My customer sent me the couple's wedding vow so that I could print them out and add them as the first printed title page of the book.  The marbled endpapers are a swirl of fall colors in brown and rust and gold.

 

dark brown leather anniversary journal with monogram and cowboy boots

 

anniversary journal with monogram and cowboy boots

   

- page size 7" wide by 8 and 1/2" tall

 - 250 pages (500 page sides to write on)

- pages are acid-free off-white paper lined with light gray lines with college-ruled spacing

- marbled endpapers in fall shades of brown and rust

- dark brown satin ribbon page marker

- cover is dark brown goatskin leather over carved binder's board

- cowboy boots on front cover added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and copper stamping foil

- raised cords on spine

- cords on spine outlined with copper lines

- lettering on spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and copper stamping foil

- approximately $285

- plus the cost of the die used for the custom cowboy boot design (a die this size might cost around $80)

 

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dark brown leather cowboy boots and monogram anniversary journal standing

 

dark brown leather cowboy boots and monogram anniversary journal front detail

 

dark brown leather cowboy boots and monogram anniversary journal flat

 

dark brown leather cowboy boots and monogram anniversary journal marbled endpapers

 

This book is a very straightforward and classic leather binding, but my customer's choice of colors made it particularly striking. This was a particularly beautiful piece of soft tan goatskin leather and I was happy that my customer really wanted to let the leather shine as the main feature of this book.  You never know exactly what color you will get when you order "British tan" leather...it can vary from this to a much more orange-tan.

 

custom tan leather oak tree anniversary journal

 

tan goatskin anniversary journal with

black lettering and decoration

  

- page size 10" square

 - 80 pages (160 page sides to write on)

 - printed title page

- beautiful marbled paper endpapers in a brown "flower" pattern

- dark brown satin ribbon page marker

- cover is British tan goatskin leather over binder's board

- decoration on cover (oak tree on the front and acorn on the back) added using custom metal dies, hot foil stamping, and black stamping pigment

- lettering on front cover and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and black stmaping pigment

- approximately $280

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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tan leather oak tree anniversary journal back cover detail

 

tan leather oak tree anniversary journal back cover

 

tan leather oak tree anniversary journal back cover detail

 

tan leather oak tree anniversary journal flat

 

tan leather oak tree anniversary journal marbled endpapers

 

tan leather oak tree anniversary journal open pages

This request came from a customer who liked the idea of an anniversary journal where you write in it every year on your anniversary.  However, he wanted  he and his wife to write in it a lot more than once a year.  He wanted to fill one page a week for sixty years.  This project morphed into a multi-volume set with a total of 1,500 pages.  When the books are lined up on  the shelf, the couple's names can be read across the spine (Carlee and Austin).  The volume number of each book is stamped in pewter foil on the spine in the center.  She said "yes" when he presented these to her as part of his proposal.

custom black leather anniversary book set

 

set of black leather anniversary journal

(given as an engagement gift)

   

- page size 7" wide by 8 and 1/2" tall

 - 261 pages (522 page sides to write on) in each book

- cover is black goatskin leather over binder's board

- blind stamped corner decorations on front and back covers added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- lettering on cover and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- raised cords on spine

- raised cords outlined with blind stamped lines

- volume number stamped in pewter foil in the center of each spine so as not to distract from the brighter silver lettering in the names

- approximately $250 per book

- $1,500 for the 6-volume set

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black leather anniversary journal set all spines

 

black leather anniversary journal set whole cover

 

black leather anniversary journal set front

 

black leather anniversary journal set spine

 

 

 

 

 

Created to reflect the colors used in their traditional Indian wedding, this anniversary journal was ordered by a husband for his wife.  The cover features an antique cast metal decoration and a raised medallion with the image of deity Ganesh done in the style of calligraphy and accented in gold pigment.  The pink marbled endpaper (made by me because it was hard to find any pink marbled paper) and pale blue accents are all part of the wedding colors.

 

custom red leather anniversary journal with indian style inlaid brass

 

anniversary journal with India-inpired brass decoration*

   

- page size 10" square

 - 200 pages (400 page sides to write on)

- hand-marbled pink swirl endpapers done using the Suminagashi technique of paper marbling

- pale blue satin ribbon page marker

- cover is red pigskin leather over binder's board

- raised panels on the front and back covers

- front cover features and antique cast brass decoration with a center medallion depicting the deity Ganesh

- lettering on spine and front cover added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

- ornate calligraphy lettering on back cover added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and light blue stamping foil

- approximately $480 

 

*the red pigskin leather used for this cover is no longer manufactured or available, but a different type of red book leather could be subsituted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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red leather indian style anniversary journal front cover

 

red leather indian style anniversary journal front cover detail

 

red leather indian style anniversary journal back whole cover

 

red leather indian style anniversary journal back cover detail

 

red leather indian style anniversary journal spine

 

red leather indian style anniversary journal endpapers

 

red leather indian style anniversary journal open pages

 

Created for a couple who wanted an anniversary journal with a fall theme to fit their fall wedding date, the front cover features randomly-falling leaves with a few "blowing" over into the back cover. All lettering and decoration on the book is blind stamped (pressed into the leather with heat and pressure but without a foil color) which gives the book a lovely, subtle quality.

 

custom brown leather falling leaves anniversary journal

 

falling leaves anniversary journal

  

- page size 8" square

 - 100 pages (200 page sides to write on)

- rust gossamer ribbon page marker

- mottled brown endpapers (not pictured)

- cover is dark brown goatskin leather over binder's board

- leaves on cover added using a custom metal die, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- lettering on covers and spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and blind stamping technique

- approximately $270

 

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dark brown leather falling leaves anniversary journal front

 

dark brown leather falling leaves anniversary journal back cover

 

dark brown leather falling leaves anniversary journal flat

     
     
     

 

 

e-mail contact: tedra@fineblankbooks.com

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